Excluding one-time charges, tax items and costs from hurricanes that shut down paper, energy and water customers' operations for days and slowed demand, adjusted third-quarter earnings were $1.37 per share, one penny higher than analysts had forecast.

"Our third quarter showed continued progress in pricing, new business gains and underlying consumption trends," CEO Douglas Baker told analysts during a conference call Tuesday afternoon. He noted that hurricanes caused many customers to temporarily close operations in affected areas.

As a result, "we estimate the impact from the hurricanes to have been a negative-4 cents per share in both the third and fourth quarters due to the loss of consumption by customers and higher delivered product costs," he said. "Still, we foresee our business continuing to accelerate in the fourth quarter."

Company officials narrowed their guidance for 2017, saying that full-year earnings are now expected to rise 6 to 9 percent to $4.65 to $4.75 per share. That's down from the prior guidance of $4.70 to $4.90.

Baker
Doug Baker Ecolab CEO

The quarterly results included a $5.2 million special charge during the quarter related to restructuring, acquisition and integration costs. Ecolab announced in September that it plans to buy the paper chemicals business of Georgia-Pacific for an undisclosed price before the end of the year end.

Baker told analysts that Ecolab's institutional restaurant business is stable, but that the company continues to see a slowdown in the restaurant sector, especially in the U.S., which happens periodically, he said. "We have seen this movie before" and is not anything that is expected to hurt Ecolab in 2018.

Dee DePass is a business reporter for the Star Tribune. She spent the last four years covering Minnesota's manufacturing and mining industries. She previously covered the economy, workplace issues and banking.

The state's technology system has been plagued by high-profile failures, and finding someone willing to head the department has proven challenging. "It keeps me up at night," Walz said in an interview.